Why Robert Rodriguez Actually Cast Rose McGowan In Grindhouse

Rose McGowan is one of the most outspoken figures in Hollywood. While she's not doing a ton of acting lately, the last few years have seen her public image transform into a fierce advocate for women's rights- which is also one of the reasons why she's been disinterested in taking high profile acting gigs. And as the scandal around Harvey Weinstein's allegations of sexual misconduct continue to make headlines, more information about past movies have come to light. It turns out that McGowan got her lead role in Robert Rodriguez' Grindhouse film Planet Terror as a way to flip the bird to Weinstein, who had reportedly blacklisted the actress following his alleged assault.

Robert Rodriguez recently shared this information himself, in an interview with Variety. After Rose McGowan told Rodriguez he couldn't audition for projects involving Harvey Weinstein, including Sin City, the director made it a point to give McGowan a lead role in his film.

Incensed at what I heard, I told Rose that she was not blacklisted from MY movies and that Harvey couldn't tell me who to cast. The reason was that Harvey didn't work on my movies, I made movies all those years for Dimension and Bob Weinstein. So I explained that if I cast her in my next film, Harvey couldn't suddenly tell me no, because my first question would be "Oh, really? Why can't I cast her?" And I was sure he would not want to tell me why.

And just like that, Rose McGowan was given an assault rifle as a leg, and we got the awesome cult favorite that is Grindhouse. The 2007 film was one of McGowan's most recent high profile gigs, and she was also given a role in Quentin Tarantino's accompanying film Death Proof. The two films were presented as a retro double feature, with McGowan serving as the common thread between the projects.

Robert Rodriguez's comments seem to point out a message that has been clear since the Harvey Weinstein allegations first surfaced just weeks ago. Namely, that there were quite a few major figures in Hollywood that were aware of previous allegations, and apparently did not speak out against the producer. But it does appear that news indeed spread, and smart minded folks like Rodriguez attempted to work their way around a broken system.

Allegations about Harvey Weinstein's apparent behavior toward women in the entertainment industry surfaced through detailed reports by both the NY Times and The New Yorker. Since then, a plethora of high profile actresses have spoken up against Weinstein and other powerful men's alleged behavior throughout the years. Weinstein has since been removed from both Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the company which bares his name.

While Rose McGowan won't be doing any acting anytime soon, be sure to check out our 2018 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.